Nicholas entered the room, his anxiety barely concealed. The moment Diana saw him, a cold, triumphant smile spread across her lips.
Diana: "Nicholas, come closer. We need to talk."
Nicholas said, his voice trembling with anger: "Right, we need to talk... but first, tell me why you lied."
Diana looked at her nails with cold indifference: "Oh, you mean the lie I told Yong about our relationship? Don't worry, Yong isn't going to hold you accountable; right now, his entire focus is on taking me down. Besides, it wasn't entirely a lie; that you and I are in love... that part is the truth."
Nicholas stepped forward, his voice shaking with fury: "You know exactly what I'm talking about! Why did you say Yong did this to you? The moment you fell, Yong was near the door; he wasn't anywhere near you."
Diana stared at him with a piercing gaze: "It's clear you don't love Mary as much as you should."
Nicholas asked in surprise: "What does this have to do with Mary?"
Diana: "Just think about how she'd react if she heard that back in college, I was cheating on Yong with you, and that we were still meeting at hotels until just a few years ago. Do you think she'd stay with you if she knew you entered into a business partnership with me solely because of your feelings for me?"
Nicholas said with cold stubbornness: "You think you can use these threats to make me a pawn in your game? If Mary doesn't stay with me, it doesn't matter. She's just like any other girl."
Diana sneered: "But I think Mary is different from the rest. At the very least, because of the money she gave you to renovate your gallery, it would be better not to treat her this way."
Terrified by how much she knew, Nicholas shouted: "How do you know that?!"
Diana said calmly: "Nothing about you ever stays hidden from me."
Caught in an endless trap, Nicholas asked helplessly: "What do you want from me?"
Diana: "I want you to keep your mouth shut. Your entry into the company is on the cameras, but I've destroyed the footage from my office hallway. Just tell the interrogator that you were with Mark at the time and never even went near my office."
Nicholas said in shock: "What are you trying to do? Yong is innocent. Because he realized you never loved him, now he has to go to jail for no reason?"
Diana: "Don't be afraid. Out of respect for the love he once had for me, I won't let him go to prison. After that, you and I can live together comfortably."
Nicholas: "No! You've gone mad. I can't do this to Yong. I'm telling the whole truth!"
Diana said in a dry, threatening tone: "Shut up! If you don't do what I said, not only will I take Mary away from you, but I'll make sure you can never hold your head up in front of anyone again. Did you forget how you stole the company's share money from your father?"
Nicholas glared at her with hatred: "God curse you! I didn't steal any money; that was my right. You tempted me... I should have known right then what kind of devil you were."
Diana: "Now that you know, it's better not to mess with this devil. Get out now, I want to rest."
When Nicholas walked out of the room with a flushed face, Mary and Helen immediately approached him.
Mary: "What happened? Did she say exactly what occurred?"
Nicholas answered with reluctance: "The same things the interrogator told us... I have to go, Mary. I'll come for you later."
Mary asked in surprise: "Where are you going? Yong needs you right now."
Nicholas: "I'm going because of Yong, to give my statement. I was at the company that day, but... I was working with Mark and left the building before the incident happened."
Helen said with disbelief: "Really? Why didn't you say so sooner? You didn't hear anything? Nicholas, I can't believe Yong would do such a thing."
Nicholas: "I don't believe it either, but we have to see what the prosecutor says."
Nicholas went to the police station and gave his testimony exactly as Diana had dictated. When the investigator told him that Yong had claimed in his initial statement that Nicholas was standing by the door, Nicholas pretended to be distressed and said: "Yong is mistaken. I wasn't there."
The investigator looked at Nicholas with doubt.
Before leaving, Nicholas asked the investigator: "Because I'm a close friend of theirs, I wanted to ask, what happens now?"
The investigator sighed: "Yong has remained silent after hearing Diana's statement. He only wants to see her."
Nicholas whispered under his breath: "He has every right to."
The next day, the doctor delivered the bitter news to Diana: a spinal injury requiring long-term physical therapy. After the doctor left, Diana stared at her legs, lost in the memories of that day—the moment she had intentionally thrown herself onto the glass table to destroy Yong forever.
When news of Diana's paralysis reached Nicholas, he let out an involuntary laugh for a split second, which he quickly masked with a fake cough. Mary and Helen didn't notice, but Nicholas knew what a sinister trap Diana had set for Yong.
A few days later, the fateful meeting took place at the detention center. Yong looked at Diana, sitting in her wheelchair, with eyes full of tears and disbelief.
Yong: "Was it worth it? Why did you do this to yourself?"
Diana said proudly: "All of this happened because of you. Instead of blaming yourself, you're accusing me?"
Yong, shocked by her shamelessness, said: "What? I really can't believe you. You did this to yourself, and yet you blame me? I still can't believe you gave a statement against me!"
Diana changed her cold tone and said with irritation: "Shut up. There are no witnesses, no footage exists. If you want me to drop the charges and say it was just an accident so you don't go to jail, you have to sign over all your company shares to me. Otherwise, with the criminal record I'll build for you, your life will be destroyed forever."
Yong was stunned, unable to speak. Diana turned her wheelchair and said as she moved away: "I'll give you until tomorrow."
Before the door could close, Yong asked in a tired voice: "Did you ever love me? Even for a moment?"
Diana didn't look back and replied cruelly: "It doesn't matter anymore. All that matters now is that I save myself from this miserable life you built for me."
Diana left the room, and Yong was left alone in the darkness of uncertainty, with nothing but his tears.